All I had at the start of this search was a second hand lost ring story and a rough search area on an island at Wallis Lake in Forster NSW.

The ring had been lost by a group who had hired a boat earlier that day and the search area was described as “somewhere over there in the water near that sign”.

What made it worth having a go was the sea grass bed which defined the seaward limit of the search area and a vague description of where the people were seen to have been searching and reports that they had been searching in knee-deep water about two hours earlier. Objects lost in water are less likely to be “accidentally” found so the odds for success were good.

Work commitments prevented me searching until late the next day but after about forty minutes, two lead sinkers, a bottle top, the top of an old aluminium can and a few startled sting rays the ring was in the scoop just after dark. That’s one of the great things about what we do; when you think about it, there is no great need for light once your search area is set up.

The ring was white gold with a small diamond with no inscription.

That was challenge one completed but challenge two was locating the ring’s owner. With some assistance from a very helpful boat hire company and a local Council Ranger, the ring’s owner was found. The next day the ring was picked up from my office so I never met Wade (ring owner) but the irony of the name and the fact that his wedding ring was lost in knee-deep water didn’t escape me.